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Touring swing states translates into electoral support if the president can provide reassurance to voters in those regions. In states like Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois that predominantly means reassuring small business owners, manufacturers, and farmers and letting them know that government isn’t going to drain their limited resources but rather allow them to reinvest in themselves.

One way the president could instill confidence in these constituencies is taking action to temper the federal regulatory agenda, which includes more than 4,200 new regulations in the pipeline. Small businesses are proud of the key role they play in our economy and they are looking to their government to roll up their sleeves and help meet the challenges we are all facing.

Regulations can be expensive and overwhelming for small businesses. Federal regulations have hit the Midwest’s manufacturing sector particularly hard. This voting block is an important one for the president to win.
In order to address business’ concerns, the administration should take a much closer look at existing and pending regulations to realize how certain rules unduly impact them with considerable costs and limited benefits.

For instance, the administration is currently considering a revision to federal standards for ground level ozone pollution that as many as 90 percent of U.S. counties would be unable to attain. Revised just three years ago, communities are still working to meet the current standard. If the EPA moves to lower the standard again, counties from coast to coast would be pushed into noncompliance status, resulting in significant disruption and new costs that undermine the president’s plans for providing opportunities for small business growth and creating American jobs - especially in rural America.

Based on my personal experience as a former U.S. Senator dedicated to fighting for small business interests, I can say that how the president and candidates stand up to protect small businesses - the backbone of our economy - will be crucial for getting our economy back on track and garnering support in the next election.

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